


Just A Hot Mess

by Wheudonym



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 06:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14182974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheudonym/pseuds/Wheudonym
Summary: Billy was awake at three in the morning, finishing his physics project. Things go downhill from there.





	Just A Hot Mess

 

Billy should not have been awake, because even though he was a tired CalTech student, there was no reason to be awake at three in the morning, on a Wednesday no less. But he had a molecular physics project to finish, and despite the fact that he had been working on it on-and-off for weeks, he still was spending the entire night before the deadline finishing it. He might be a night owl but he still would normally be asleep at this time of night (Eli would disagree, saying Billy was a nocturnal mess, but this was coming from a guy who woke up every morning for a six for a jog, which was the sign of a madman.) So between hunching over his laptop, grumbling over stacks of notes, and cursing his perfectionist nature, Billy was also trying to keep himself awake. This usually entailed a couple things, namely food and talking to himself, but there might have also been some dancing and bad singing too.

He tried not to make too much noise, because his housemate’s may have been out but Billy didn’t think that the rest of New York Dr. would appreciate his loud and garbled singing of ‘The Plagues’ from Prince of Egypt.  (The coincidence that he lived on a street named after his home state was not lost on him, but neither Eli nor Cassie found it as funny as he did.) Cassie was visiting Nate at his dorm on campus and Eli was out of town for one of the dozen of bioengineering conferences he somehow managed into his hectic schedule. And Billy was at home. At three in the morning. Trying to finish this project.

“You are almost done, William,” Billy muttered to himself as he stuck his head in the fridge, looking for something that would keep him awake that was not coffee. “No coffee. I am going to sleep eventually. Can’t be buzzed. Nope.” He said to himself as he took out the orange juice, hoping some sugar would keep him going a little longer. He grabbed one of Eli’s protein bars and went back to his computer for another round of editing.

Another fifteen minutes and Billy’s eyes were drooping again. “Damn clifbar.” He rubbed his eyes, not sure why he blamed Eli’s health food for making him sleepy.

So he decided to put on some music, hoping it would pump him up. He was singing along to one of his many Broadway albums when he thought he heard something. It sounded creaky, like old wood. He stopped the music, listening for the noise again. He hoped he wasn’t being too loud and a neighbor was about to knock on his door to complain. He and his housemates may have been college kids but they still lived in upper Pasadena where suburban moms definitely didn’t take kindly to ruckus at three- now almost four- in the morning.

He waited, hoping it was just his tired mind playing tricks on him. He was just about to tell himself he was being silly when he heard another noise, the sound of a crash coming from the back of the house. Well, if he wanted to be awake, the possibility of a murdering burglar was certainly one way to wake up.

Billy scrambled to find something besides a pen and protractor that would help him defend himself. He darted into Eli’s room and found some dumbbells, but then decided against them. If he threw them he no longer had a weapon, he told himself. Maybe he could use a broom. Wait. Did they own a broom? No, he didn’t think so. Maybe they should buy one…

Another noise, this time definitely outside the back sliding glass door, followed by something that Billy definitely thought sounded like talking.

“Shit,” He muttered to himself as he darted into the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. A little cartoonish, he thought, but it would probably do the trick.

He took a flashlight from the kitchen cabinet and slowly opened the sliding glass door. He clicked on the flashlight and pointed it into the backyard, frying pan held aloft. In the beam of light he saw a young man, probably about the same age as Billy, petting Cassie’s dog. He was well-built and blond, but Billy couldn’t get a good look at his face as he was bent over petting Honey and talking to her rather enthusiastically. Billy couldn’t really hear what he was saying, but it sounded slurred and a little too loud to be considered a whisper.

“Uh. Hello?” Billy called out, completely caught off guard and no longer sure if this was a threat.

“Ah!”

The man, who was probably drunk, jumped in surprise and promptly fell over.

“Hello! ‘m sorry I was just.” The man gestured to the dog. “She was,” he made a hand gesture, and pointed to the very long chain that Honey was attached to. “and then I fix it but then I got distracted. What’s her name?”

“Honey.” Billy said, because what else could he say to such an incoherent statement. “I’m sorry… are you? Uh. What?” Billy said again, about as coherent as the drunk standing on his lawn.

The man smiled up at him as he continued to pet the dog happily, completely oblivious to the oddity of their situation. Billy just stared at him.

“Uh, sorry, who are you?”

“’m Teddy.” He smiled. “And I don’t feel very good right now.”

That’s when the man threw up. Then he wobbled on his feet and promptly passed out.

“Oh.” Billy said as he lowered the frying pan. “Fuck.”

***

So that was how Billy was awake at five in the morning, just now printing out his project.

Because after the drunk man who was petting his housemate’s dog passed out in his backyard, Billy had to drag him into the house, put him on the couch (on his side, so he didn’t throw up again and choke to death), and then go back to finishing his project. It seemed almost stupid to go back into his room to type out his project’s conclusion, but what else could he do? ‘Sorry professor a drunk guy passed out on my lawn last night, I can’t turn in my project on time. How about an extension?’

No, probably not going to work.

At six in the morning, Billy was still awake because now there was a stranger in his house and he wasn’t about to just fall asleep unawares. So he went back into the kitchen and made himself a coffee (because at this rate he wasn’t getting any sleep, and he might as well power through it until he had to leave for his nine o’clock class.) When he started to make eggs and toast, the smell must have awoken his house guest, because he heard the sound of someone groaning and then feet hitting the living room floor.

Billy stuck his head out into the living room from the kitchen, to see the blond guy looking around the room with squinted eyes.

“Uh. Hello?” Teddy squinted at Billy, his hair sticking up badly. There was a long red crease across his face where he’d laid against the decorative pillow.

“Morning. How much do you remember?”

Teddy cringed, “Last I remember I was walking home from the bar. I think there was a dog? It’s a bit blurry.”

Billy had to smile at that. “I imagine so. Well, I have eggs and toast if you’d like some. The bathroom’s the first door on the left.”

Billy went back into the kitchen before Teddy could answer, flipping his egg before it burned.

A few minutes later the mysterious drunken man came back into the kitchen.

“Uh. So.”

Billy set down the toast. “Over easy?”

“Uh, sure,” Teddy said, sitting down at the little wobbly table in the kitchen.

“So you want to explain why you were petting my housemate’s dog at three in the morning?” Billy said as he cracked the egg over the frying pan. “Not that Honey seemed to mind it. She’s friendly like that.”

“Oh god.” Teddy hung his head in his hands. “Non-drunk me is really questioning my life choices.”

“People have done a lot of worse things while drunk,” Billy said as he flipped the egg. “Come on, I’ve been awake for twenty-four hours and I’m honestly dying of curiosity.”

“You’ve been up for twenty-four hours?”

“Nu-uh, you first.” Billy shook his spatula at him.

“Well…” Teddy said. “I was at a bar with my friends.”

“On a Wednesday night?”

“I got a call back from an audition.”

“Singer?”

“Actor, actually. I applied for a small theater company.” Teddy explained. “But anyways, I was walking back to my place and I remember hearing music. So I’m guessing that drunk-me was a hopeless theater gay who heard Avenue Q at three in the morning and followed it like an idiot.”

Billy actually burst out laughing.

“And the dog?”

“I think I saw her tangled up on her leash and tried to fix it through the fence. I think I fell on your gate and broke it? I can pay for that.” Teddy cringed.

“I’ll have a look at it, but honestly you’ve paid me back in hilarious entertainment that will last me weeks,” Billy said, setting down Teddy’s egg and then sitting across from him.

“Happy to help. I think.” Teddy said as he gave a shy smile. He was rather handsome, now that Billy actually looked at him. He seemed to have at least three piercings in each ear and his smile was the kind that could get anyone out of any mess.

“So why were you awake, if you weren’t a drunken mess like me?” Teddy over a bite of egg.

“Final Project for my Physics course,” Billy said, sipping on his coffee. “I’ve been working on for a while, but I really need to impress my professor. Ergo, I pulled an all-nighter on a Wednesday night, now Thursday morning.”

Teddy’s eyes widened. “Are you a CalTech student?”

“Uh, yeah?” Billy shrugged.

“Oh my god, I must look like an idiot to you,” Teddy said, smiling a little through his self-deprecation.

“Dude, I was singing Broadway songs at three in the morning to keep myself from falling face first into a keyboard. I have no room to judge.” Billy said, not mentioning the times he’s passed out drunk from only a few drinks. Liquor and he weren’t the best of friends.

“I guess not. So what do you study?”

 “Biochemistry and molecular biophysics,” Billy said, before adding. “With a minor in computer science.”

“I’ve no idea what you just said, but I’m going to blame that on being hungover,” Teddy said.

“That’s okay, I sure as hell couldn’t do your job.  I had to perform a Shakespearean monologue when I was in high school and I stuttered the whole way through it.”

“Ah, which one?”

“I think it was from _Hamlet_?” Billy smiled warily. “I don’t know. I’m more into Broadway. When I lived in New York my family would get cheap seats and see as many on Broadway as we could.”

“Totally jealous now, thank you,” Teddy said, giving Billy that smile again.

Billy was just thinking that Teddy wasn’t all that weird at all when they both heard a key turn in the door.

A moment later Eli walked in the door, bag in one hand and his backpack slung over his shoulder. He took one look at Billy at the kitchen table, dark circles under his eyes and his hair a muck from running his hands through it all night. Then he took one look at Teddy, whose eyes were bloodshot and his face still had pillow-creases on it. Eli’s brows immediately flew up in surprise.

“Wow, Kaplan.” His brow furrowed, “Didn’t you have a project to do?”

“Uh,” Billy said, looking back to Teddy. “Finished it last night.”

Eli nodded, still looking at Teddy. Billy didn’t blame him since Billy had never brought any guy back to the house before. He had gone a date or two, but Billy had told both his housemates he wasn’t very lucky in love.

“I’m not- What I mean is… uh,” Teddy stumbled and faltered before he just sighed out in exasperation. “His explanation is _so much better_ than what actually happened.”

Billy couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“I’ll explain later,” Billy said to Eli, who was looking at Billy like he had lost his mind. “This is Teddy, by the way. Who crashed on the couch last night after a drink too many. I’d explain, but I have to shower and get to class.”

“And I have to start back to my own place before my roommate wakes up and thinks I’m missing.” Teddy stood and held out his hand to Billy. “Sorry about last night. I’ll leave you my number so you can call me if I need to pay for any damage. Or I might be able to fix it myself. Either way.”

Billy took his hand, “Well. Honey will be here if you need her.”

“Don’t tempt me, she’s a sweetheart and I’m a sucker for a cute dog.” Teddy smiled, melting Billy’s already fried brain.

Then Teddy left, leaving an odd silence in the house.

Eli looked at Billy and back to where Teddy hand just been.

Billy opened his mouth but Eli just said, “Actually, I don’t think I want to know,” then went into it his room.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the Hot Mess AU from this tumblr post: http://theappleppielifestyle.tumblr.com/post/112392287541/list-of-aus-to-consider-where-one-or-both-of-ur  
> +  
> FYI they definitely get together after this, but I didn't want to rush it. So here's just a meet-cute (meet-ugly? meet-mess? idk). Hope you enjoyed it! Any comment would be much appreciated as I'm still getting used to Billy/Teddy dynamic.


End file.
